'Lack of clear targets' for States Property Unit

Deputy Andy Sloan said he was concerned about the lack of clear targets

A lack of measurable key performance indicators (KPI) at the body which manages States property has been highlighted as a concern by Guernsey's Scrutiny Management Committee.

At a public hearing on Tuesday, Mark Ogier, director of estates, said the States Property Unit did not "have specific measurable KPIs" and instead relied on qualitative data to review performance.

Andy Sloan, Scrutiny Management Committee president, said he was worried there were "not clear targets for progress".

But, president of the Policy and Resources Committee, Lindsay de Sausmarez, disagreed and stressed there were measurable KPIs, and said "we've demonstrated huge progress on efficiencies".

During the hearing, it was heard the States Property Unit had made "significant efficiencies" to save public money, which included a reduction in staff numbers since the unit was created.

Mr Ogier stated that his department had worked to make States buildings more energy efficient.

But, he added: "We don't have specifics, they're not measurable KPIs that we look at."

The States Property Unit admitted despite looking for efficiencies, its routine capital spending had increased in the last four years, from £2.2m in 2021, to more than £7m in 2024.

It blamed historic underspending which it said had left a significant backlog of maintenance across the States' estate.

The Scrutiny Management Committee hosted its first public hearing at the Castel Douzaine Room

One of the key objectives of the unit was to increase routine capital spend to catch up on essential repairs and upkeep, said Mr Ogier.

"There was a real measurable desire that we had to try and rectify some of the underspend on the estate, and that coupled with obviously the rationalisation to try and reduce the numbers of properties, is trying to remedy some of those areas."

Under questioning from Deputy Haley Camp, the unit said it did not charge internal rent for States properties.

Scrutiny questioned whether this undermined cost transparency and efficiency, and made it harder to compare public vs private provision.

Following the hearing de Sausmarez said she was looking forward to seeing the result of the Scrutiny Management Committee's wider review of the unit.